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Monday, July 6, 2015

Hada Labo Perfect Gel Review

Hey guys, I'm back! It's been a nice
hiatus, wrought with multiple skin rashes, acne, and allergies galore. But I
look normal again, so here I am! So I've decided to write my first post about
skincare (or maybe the first couple). A lot of you who know me in person know
I'm the biggest geek about skincare, and it seems to have gotten worse (or
better, if you like me rambling on about ingredients) after my latest little bought
of skin mishaps. I've gotten a lot pickier with my skincare after having some
sort of allergic reaction in March and April. I had a rash all over my hands
and arms, as well as around my mouth. It took weeks to heal and multiple visits
to the dermatologist, and it still likes to pop up now and again. For the
record, I'm just super sensitive to alcohol in my skincare and prone to
over-exfoliation.

Since my newfound love of ingredients lists
and the beauty bloggers who post them, I've decided to follow suit in my
reviews as well.

The Hada Labo Perfect Gel is one of the new
products I tried that helped to get my skin back on track. According to Hada
Labo, it's an all-in-one product, functioning as lotion, milk, cream, serum and
mask. I personally use it as a lightweight moisturizer in place of the emulsion step
in the "Asian skincare routine," and layer something slightly heavier
over top. Other girls use it as their cream, or even a sleeping mask, so you
can see that this truly is a multipurpose product.

Hada Labo is one of my favourite brands to
use when my skin is acting up. The ingredients lists are always short, and
focus on hyaluronic acid to help restore moisture to the skin. I'm prone to
dehydrated skin due to my Retin A use, so Hada Labo is a lifesaver for me. I
opted to get the Perfect Gel, as it not only had hyaluronic acid in it, but
also urea (another great humectant) and glucosyl ceramide.

Notable
Ingredients

Hyaluronic Acid: The perfect gel uses three
types – hydrolyzed hyaluronic acid, sodium acetylated hyaluronate, and sodium
hyaluronate. They're all humectants, meaning they draw water into the skin and
hold onto it. These are all low molecular weight hyaluronic acid, so they
can better penetrate the skin compared to high weight hyaluronic acid, which just sits on top.

Urea: Another humectant, but unlike
high weight hyaluronic acid, it can penetrate the skin. It also has gentle
exfoliating properties.

Squalane: This is actually a part of the
sebum our skin produces, and production diminishes as we age. In cosmetics, it
is usually derived from olives (but can also be from shark liver or sugar cane)
and has moisturizing, antioxidant and antibacterial properties.

Glucosyl Ceramide: A glycolipid containing
a fatty acid, glucose and sphingosine. Both orally and topically, it helps to
restore and protect the skin barrier.

Hydrolyzed Collagen: Helps to add moisture
and sooth the skin. Supposedly, it also helps to firm the skin, however
multiple studies show that collagen particles are too large to penetrate the
skin, and I don't know if hydrolyzed collagen makes a difference in
penetrability.

This is
lightweight gel that absorbs into the skin fairly easily. I like to rub about a
small grape sized amount in my fingers, and then spread it on my face, patting
for a minute or until it's fully absorbed. I didn't experience any sort of
stickiness with this, however others reported feeling sticky after using it.
My skin honestly just absorbs anything as long as it's not straight up oil. It
does leave an awkwardly shiny finish to the skin though. Not glowy like a face mask, just... shiny.

When I first
started using this, I was dealing with a weird mouth rash (probably the result
of over-exfoliation from Retin A, and a weekend spent outdoors in cold Edmonton
with no lipbalm). This helped to calm the rash down more than the Avene Skin
Recovery Cream samples I had. It definitely stung (nothing too bad) in that
area though, which I'm guessing is because of the urea content. It also didn't
aggravate the bad acne flare up I was also having at the time, as well as shrinking the eczema patch on my cheek bones. (Seriously, do you know how hard it is to deal with acne flare ups at the same time as a weird rash, and an eczema flare up on the face too!?) For the record, I have since learned that Vaseline is actually the best thing for any skin irritations around my mouth (I used it over top of the Perfect Gel), as well as getting rid of eczema patches.

Using this left
my skin sufficiently moisturized for a few hours (ie. no tight feeling for
about two to three hours). As I continued to use it, my skin would feel
moisturized for longer. In other words, continued use allowed my skin to heal
and better retain moisture. It also provides an immediate plumping effect.

For me, this
wasn't enough hydration, and I needed to add a slightly heavier cream, as well
as a serum for my skin to feel comfortable the majority of the day (and only when I wasn't in air con). I would
highly recommend this to oily, or more normal to combination skinned girls (or
men), or for those living in a more humid climate. If you're living in a dry
climate and/or are using dehydrating products such as tretinoin or benzoyl
peroxide, you might need to layer this with something else, or use something
heavier.

This lasted about three months with twice a day usage (using a small grape sized amount of product each time).You can also buy it on drugstore.com for a reasonable price.

Pros

·Reasonable price – it's usually
$25-30 CAD.

·Minimal ingredients list
meaning less chance of causing a reaction for sensitive skin.

·Lightweight, absorbed quickly,
and plumps the skin

·Multiple ways to use it

Cons

·Difficult to find in stores.
T&T carries a lot of the Hada Labo lines, but not this one. My friend
actually gave me her extra one, and she had to order it from Rakuten. Ebay also
has it for a reasonable price.